Abu Dhabi rescue team heads to quake-hit Pakistan

A team of officers from Abu Dhabi police left for Pakistan Saturday to help in search and rescue operations following the devastating earthquake there, the official WAM news agency reported.
The 26-strong police rescue team will help search for survivors and treat the wounded from the earthquake, "in the first overseas mission on such a (large) scale," it said.

Oil-rich Abu Dhabi is the largest and wealthiest member of the seven-strong United Arab Emirates (UAE). UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan also ordered the immediate dispatch of humanitarian aid to quake-hit areas of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, WAM reported. An earthquake measuring at least 7.6 on the Richter scale caused massive devastation on Saturday across a swathe of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

The UAE Red Crescent Authority will shortly send teams to Pakistan and India to extend relief aid to quake victims, board chairman Khalifa Nasser al-Suwaidi was quoted by WAM as saying.
The authority's office in Afghanistan has also been instructed to send delegates to areas affected by the quake and provide food, medical and other vital assistance to the victims, he said.


Source: AFP via IC Publications